Strength in Numbers
by linleypls
Summary: Jaune unlocks his semblance during the events of Forever Fall, but it wasn't what he expected. What can Cloning do?
1. Chapter 1

Jaune was hesitating, as he watched an Ursa mayor approach his fellow student he asked himself, Did he want to help Cardin?

In his heart he knew he didn't, he tormented him for almost a week, made his life hell thinking he was going to get kicked out of Beacon, steered him away from his team and friends, made him do all his homework and carry his stuff.

Besides, even his team doesn't seem to like him that much, they just left him without even looking back. Why should he help him if even his friends don't? Nobody would blame him, everyone knew he was weak, there is no way he can save him from an Ursa Minor with bone plating. He could just leave him and he would have no consequences, so why bother?

Then he saw the Ursa raising its paw ready to strike down Cardin, and all of those reasons didn't matter, he just unsheathed his sword and readied his shield. Was it because Cardin didn't deserve to die? Or because he didn't want to be that type of person?

'_That's right I came here to become a hero and until now I've been just a failure' _He thought to himself as he stepped in front of Cardin, with his shield high just in time to block the strike, but the force behind it was too great and easily made him kneel, and broke the earth beneath his feet.

It was thanks to his great aura reserves that he wasn't pushed to the floor, but they did drop significantly. He took his chance and pushed with his shield and followed it with a vertical slice across its stomach, it barely cut its hide, but it did knock it back, then the Ursa made a sweep with its other paw and he barely dodged it by jumping over it but he couldn't dodge the next hit and he was hit at the side of his chest, knocking him across the clearing until his back hit a tree.

He pushed through the pain and stood up, he saw Cardin block a strike from the Ursa, but it was too strong and threw him back and he was struggling to stand up as the Ursa once again charged him. He ran once again to intercept it from its right side, but he felt doubt in his heart, at this rate it's going to crush Cardin, and by the looks of it he seems low on aura and he could only reach one conclusion. Cardin might die.

So he pushed himself harder, sprinting faster than before and focusing his aura, increasing its power. The Ursa on all fours and was almost upon Cardin when he reached it, he swung from below towards its chest where it's hide was deepest, because if he swung at a vital area it would probably kill it but its corpse would possibly crush Cardin. The Ursa was knocked to the side and _barely_ missed Cardin.

The Ursa was standing up, so he charged again to press his advantage, and he swung towards its head, but the Ursa was faster and hit his side and knocked him over. He rapidly stood up and gazed at the Grimm, at the bone mask and red eyes and it glared right back.

He felt tired, not physically, but mentally, he felt tired of being a failure, he was also scared, never before had he faced a Grimm alone, and even if he did it was only once during initiation. But he didn't cower, not like the rest of his life, he decided that from now on, he will be better, he will be worthy to become a huntsman despite his transcripts, he _**will become a hero.**_

Never before had he felt such determination, and he could feel it in his heart… No...his _soul_ and he felt that it was about to 'spill out'. Then as if the Grimm could feel his determination, it charged, and he did as well. Crocea Mors was filled with aura making it extremely bright as it moved towards the Ursa's neck.

But Jaune knew he made a mistake, the Ursa also attacked him, sending its paw towards his chest and he hadn't raised his shield. He knew he had to be faster so he pushed his aura even more and it 'spilled out'. Even he, who only had basic control over his aura could feel his aura leaving his body at a rapid pace in two different streams, he knew he should be scared as a strike headed his way and his defenses were leaving him, but he wasn't scared, because never had something felt so _right._

Then a bright light flashed.

* * *

Pyrrha arrived with Ruby and Weiss and she was shocked when she arrived at the edge of the clearing. She saw Jaune run towards an Ursa Major to save Cardin, where he barely managed to save him. He managed to knock it over but the fight started again. She wasn't expecting this side of him, he has seen him embarrassed, scared, depressed, happy but never _serious._

Pyrrha was tense and ready to use her semblance to protect her partner, and she was about to when she saw Jaune didn't raise his shield to protect himself and just swung at the Ursa's neck, but then a bright light appeared from him, and the next moment there were _three_ Jaune's.

She knew he had just unlocked his semblance there was no other explanation, it appeared to be clones similar to Blake's.

They appeared at both sides of where he originally was and the Jaune(2) on the left managed to block the blow of the Ursa with his shield he only stumbled back due to intercepting the paw before it's full swing, making the other Jaune miss his strike and stumble on the floor, the last Jaune(3) moved towards the back, moving Cardin out of the clearing.

Jaune managed to stand up and move back, while the Ursa raised its paw high and smashed it towards Jaune(2) but he managed to step back where he dropped his shield and raised his sword and impaled the Ursa's paw until there was only the hilt visible. It roared in pain, and Jaune(2) yelled "Sword!" But it was barely heard over the pained scream.

A sword flew and Jaune(2) managed to grab it as he stepped back from the impaled paw, she saw it was thrown by the Jaune(3) that was supporting Cardin at the edge of the clearing, but a sweep also came towards him from the Ursa but Jaune blocked it with his shield and was thrown back a few feet and Jaune(2) once again impaled the sword, but as the paw was sideways and she could we that he had more trouble and he stayed there as the Ursa roared in pain. Then Jaune stood back up and run towards it, she could see the side of Jaune's face, it was as if steel covered his face, the Ursa saw this, and instead of roaring this time it _bellowed, _most probably in defiance of its incoming death but Jaune didn't even flinch. Its bellow was cut short as Jaune struck in full swing and decapitated the Ursa.

Silence rang in the clearing as the Ursa's head flew in the sky.

She didn't know what to think, she didn't expect him, someone, who only started training when he entered the school and that was only a month ago, killed an Ursa with no help and saved someone from it.

But then she saw his face and she knew exactly what to feel, she was confused, he didn't have a smile on his face, he didn't show any confidence from, it was like he didn't care at all about the Grimm he just fought to the death. Then she heard, "That. Was. AW-"

She cut Ruby off, by blocking her mouth with her and dragging her back towards the tree the three of them were hiding. And Weiss had a confused look and asked, "Pyrrha, what are you doing? The fight is over, he unlocked his semblance and he killed it on his own".

She replied with a hesitating tone, "Something is wrong… look at his expression, he should be proud but it's like he doesn't care at all".

Finally, she removed her hand from Ruby's mouth and wiped it on the tree, and the three of them looked at him, he had a hand on his face and released a muffled hollow laugh. "I think it's the first time I've seen him so depressed" Weiss whispered, then she heard Ruby say. "Shouldn't we go… you know to help him?".

Then they heard Jaune's bitter voice, "How _fucking _ironic".

She blinked at that, she _never_ expected him to curse, he wasn't the type to do that, he was innocent, naive and dorky, it was like seeing Blake being energetic and talkative it _just doesn't happen_, but apparently, it did. Now she was worried this was too out of character for him.

"Yeah, it's like a slap to the face isn't it" she knew it was Jaune's voice but it wasn't the one she was looking at, it was Jaune(2), he took both swords from the dispersing corpse and was walking towards Jaune.

"His semblance seems like Blake's but lasts longer and it would seem it is capable of independent thought," Weiss remarked looking at the clones.

"But why isn't he happy? He unlocked his semblance" Ruby whispered worriedly. She could hear Weiss hum in agreement.

She was going to agree but she was cut off. "It can also represent a trait of the user, what else could I expect?" Jaune said with a bitter voice.

She was confused by that and by the looks of it Ruby and Weiss where too, What did he think his semblance represented?

"It doesn't matter, we have already decided what we are going to do, right?" Jaune(2) said. "Yeah, you are right, this doesn't change anything" Jaune replied.

"Come on let's go, we need to regroup with the rest of the class, also check your aura levels." Jaune(3) told them from the edge of the clearing, both of them sighed, took their scrolls out and stilled for a moment before walking and talking outside of their hearing range.

She also took out her scrolls to see if her leader was on the red, but when she saw her team she was surprised, there were _six_ members on the team and half of them were Jaune, one in the red and two on the yellow, the highest was only 20%, then she realized, his semblance divides his aura in the number of clones he produces, but maybe that's because he just unlocked it.

Ruby and Weiss leaned in over her scroll and saw the extra additions to her team and had mix reactions, "That's so cool! he can create durable clones!" Ruby whispered excitedly.

"What are you talking about, you dunce! his semblance drastically reduces his aura, he would be more vulnerable to attacks!" Weiss countered.

"We should meet up with them, they could be in danger if more Grimm finds them," Pyrrha said trying to end the debate.

"Yeah! let's go!" Ruby said and Weiss nodded and walked towards where the Jaune's and Cardin left the clearing. Pyrrha then asked them as they walked "Could you keep this a secret?" Ruby then asked, "Sure, but why?".

She sighed and said, "It's been kind of hard for me to get to Jaune to open up, and it wouldn't look good if he knows I was eavesdropping on him..." The only time he did was a week ago and after that, he spent time with Cardin…

"I mean it's only been a month since you've met him, you can't expect him to become lifelong friends in such a brief period" Weiss replied, trying to comfort her.

Ruby looked at Weiss as if she grew a second head and said: "Are you the same person who decided I wasn't leader material on the first day?", Weiss replied with an embarrassed expression, "Shut up!" and Ruby laughed.

_'That's what I want with my partner'_ It's already been a week since she and Jaune talked like that, and she missed it dearly, he was her first friend and treated her like everybody else, and although she also had Ren and Nora, it felt _off_ when Jaune wasn't there. She could only hope that after this everything will turn back to normal.

Then they stumbled in a scene she never thought she would see, but today was full of surprises, but this still surprised her.

There were two Jaune's at the side of a tree and the last Jaune stood in front of a tree where he was looking at Cardin. Then he pushed Cardin against a tree and he was going to move away from it but Jaune held him in place, and he said with a threatening tone, "Don't ever mess with my team - _my friends_ \- ever again."

She was joyous, her partner was proving that he will be able of taking care of himself and their team and hopefully, things will be the same as before, but then she heard from Cardin:

"I got it..." he said slowly and followed by hesitantly saying, "And Arc, I'll stop blackmailing you, I'll keep my mouth shut and I'll make sure my team does as well"

Pyrrha then realized what was happening this past week, she thought it was about the fight they had last week that he went to become Cardin's _'friend'_, but it seemed that he was forced too, but she highly doubted that Jaune would tell Cardin, finally everything clicked.

She guessed Cardin most likely overheard their talk and proceeded to blackmail Jaune, and if it weren't for her he wouldn't have been forced to carry Cardin's stuff and do this homework, but worst of all to have his bully able to manipulate him like a puppet. It was all her fault and she didn't know what to do, so she _ran._

* * *

Jaune backed off and crossed his arms and gave a pointed state at Cardin and simply asked, "Why?". Cardin said simply, "My family's code, says debts must be repaid".

He stared at Cardin's eyes, looking for a trace of deceit, and he didn't find anything. Did it even matter if he knew he was lying? No, it's not like he could stop him from telling Ms. Goodwitch, with her distaste towards him, she would kick him out and have him out of Beacon within the hour. So he just sighed and said, "Let's just go".

"Ruby!","Weiss!" he could hear his clones voice, and they were looking behind him so he turned around and found Ruby and Weiss. The first thought was, how long were they looking at him? Since he was being beaten by Cardin? Since he was fighting the Ursa? Since he was talking to Cardin? But they were distracted as if looking for something and so he asked, "Is everything okay?.

They seemed to focus on the question and Ruby zoomed in on him with incredible speed and with a hurt expression said, "Jaune! if you were being blackmailed, Why didn't you ask for our help?".

He didn't know what to say, so he scratched his head with a sheepish expression and Weiss said in a plain voice, "He didn't want us to know about what he was being blackmailed about".

Ruby looked at him for confirmation and Jaune didn't have the words to confirm it, so he just nodded and she just had an expression of a lost puppy, so he sighed and said, "Ruby, I promise I'll tell you someday, and besides now I can hang out with you guys", She seemed to brighten at those words and said, "Yeah, and Jaune… I promise I won't treat you differently when you tell me your secret".

He didn't expect that he felt blessed at having a friend like Ruby, to know someone had his back no matter what was reassuring, but he also felt pressure, it was the first time he felt truly close to someone besides his family, and he didn't want to let Ruby down.

Now that he thinks about it, she also tried to help him yesterday, when he arrived at his dorm, giving him the advice to become a better leader. She is awesome. He then said with a smile on his face, "Thank you, Ruby, those words mean the world to me".

Jaune and Ruby just smiled at each other until Weiss said, "We should get going".

Ruby said and started leading with a skip in her step, "Yeah, let's go!". Weiss goes ahead and matches her pace, meanwhile, he stayed a bit behind them with his clones and Cardin was some ways behind him, most likely not wanting his help should more Grimm arrive. He couldn't help but think but his pride will come back to kick him in the ass.

Finally he glanced at his clones, the product of his semblance, so far he's figured out that it divides his aura in the number of clones he creates, they lose aura over time, and he is guessing that eventually when it's aura reach zero they disappear, but the biggest concern is that it makes his aura less effective, as in, he needs more aura than he usually does to defend or to attack, and that goes for him and his clones.

So far it has only been a disappointment, when he first heard of semblances, he was hoping, something cool and strong, like telekinesis, being able to create force fields, enhanced reflexes, but he can only create more of himself, although he did manage to kill an Ursa Minor, he still struggled with it and was thanks to quick thinking that he did it, then he looked at his Aura and sighed, they were six people on his team and half of them was himself…

He didn't know what to think about it… His semblance, wasn't efficient at all, taking a huge amount of his aura to create weaker clones of himself while also weakening him, and then he thought to himself _'Wait… if they are products of my semblance, then aren't they made of aura, Couldn't I just absorb them back?'_

He looked at the clone on his right and said, "Hey, you think I could absorb you because in the end you are made of my aura…", He looked thoughtful and said with a shrug, "Wouldn't hurt to try".

So Jaune placed a hand on his clones shoulder as they continued to walk, and tried to feel for his aura, finally after a moment he felt a connection with his clone and he pulled on it and he also felt something push towards his end, he could feel his aura flowing from his clone towards his body, he watched as his clone turned into light and flow into him. He also felt the 'strength' of his aura return to normal, it didn't feel as 'diluted', it had reached its normal level of concentration. He could also feel different but he didn't know what exactly, before he could think further Ruby asked excitedly, "Jaune, did you absorb your clone?"

"Yeah, to get my aura back," he said as he checked his aura levels, and instead of being in the red, he was in the yellow, having increased around twenty percent.

"That's awesome, so you don't lose your aura when you make your clones!" Ruby asked while looking at him and walking backward.

He then explained, "I do still lose aura, they deteriorate over time, and if they get hit they lose aura as well".

Ruby then said excitedly, "Yeah, but you _can_ get it back!".

"Yeah, that's true" Jaune replied as he looked at the other clone and put his hand on this shoulder and said:

"This time I'll leave a bit of aura, I want to know what happens when your aura reaches zero." He explained to his clone and started the process when his clone nodded. He looked at the aura levels on his scroll to know when to stop. Then he did the same 'pull' on his aura and he could also feel the same push, he assumed it was his clone.

He finally stopped when he saw his clone's aura reached to around five percent. He could also see his aura reached just below the fifty percent mark, he was content, if he can regain his aura maybe his semblance wasn't as bad as he thought.

Then he heard Weiss say with a questioning tone, "Aren't you going to fully absorb him?".

He replied, "Nope, I want to see what happens as it loses aura."

Weiss then said with a tone that said 'Isn't it obvious", "It will disappear." He said patiently, "Yeah, I know that, but I want to know if there is more to it".

She looked as if she going to keep talking but she didn't, she also stopped walking as stood still for a moment before she said, "Something is coming, and it's close".

Ruby had already stopped walking and deployed Crescent Rose the moment Weiss finished talking, he quickly followed suit, as did his clone, and unsheathed his sword and had his shield ready. Cardin also took out his mace and stood ready a few feet away from them.

After a moment of silence, he heard the rustle of leaves, it then became hurried movements against the grass, and it intensified until a black blur appeared but was received with a shard of ice, he didn't know if it lived or not, because more kept coming and he could finally see them clearly, Beowolfs. Ruby made quick work of them, easily slashing them in half one after the other, and Weiss supported her by using ice dust and throwing ice shards.

None made it past Ruby and Weiss, but he still felt that he should be helping, but charging recklessly won't help them, so he could only stare as they dispatched Beowolf after Beowolf, until he realized they were _too many_ Beowolfs and larger packs have a stronger and _smarter_ alpha. Who would it target? The first thought was the weak link, meaning him, but it would have trouble getting to him, thanks to Ruby and Weiss…

So he would attack Cardin! His eyes snapped to Cardin, he could feel wind rushing to his face from the speed of the big blur as it approached Cardin, but his clone was on the move and barely managed to push him out of the way, but he received the attack instead, it was a big claw swipe across his back, and his clone disappeared in motes of light, and suddenly he felt searing pain across his back and he released a strangled cry.

That caught the attention of Ruby and Weiss, who was already finishing the rest of the Beowolfs, and Ruby disappeared leaving trails of petal roses and saying, "Weiss I'll leave the rest to you".

"Got it" Weiss replied and started using her glyphs to surround the few Beowolf's, and started producing shards of ice easily finishing the strugglers.

As Weiss was finishing the rest of the Beowolfs, a loud gunshot sound rang across the clearing, by the time Jaune managed to move his head towards the Alpha, it already had a scythe across its neck, and Ruby on the other end at the Beowolf's back and another gunshot was fired, and the Alpha's head was flying through the trees.

Before he could even blink, Ruby was already in front of him as he kneeled on the ground, and asked worriedly, "Jaune are you hurt?".

He was about to say 'yes', because of the sudden burst of pain, but then he didn't feel any pain on his back, it was gone as if it was an illusion, then he thought of the clone that was just _shredded_ by the Alpha and he came to the conclusion it was because of how his clone was destroyed. Finally, he answered with a sigh, "No, I am guessing my semblance transferred my clones pain when it was destroyed".

Ruby had a smile when she answered, "At least you're okay".As he stood up, he heard Weiss wry voice, "Does your semblance have _any_ upsides?".

Jaune faintly heard Ruby saying Weiss's name in a reproachful tone, but he was already deep in his thoughts. He asked himself if she was right, and couldn't come up with an answer, then as he was thinking about all he knew about his semblance he could only say that she was right, but as he was about to say that she was right he thought to himself, '_Come on Jaune, you know there has to be something_'.

He thought of the first time he activated it, how he blocked Ursa's attack and brought Cardin out of the clearing...Wait,_'he'_ didn't do anything, he missed his attack and his clones blocked the attack and brought Cardin out of the clearing, so... he has his clone's memories, but that isn't that great, sure with his clone he could study a lot faster than others, but it won't make him stronger…

Unless, his clone's memories not only include knowledge but muscle memory, that way he could train faster and catch up with the rest at a _much_ faster pace, he could cram literal _years _of training in months, depending on how many clones he could make, but he wouldn't know until he tried.

Finally, with a big smile on his face he told Weiss, "Thanks Weiss!". She had an annoyed expression on her face and it felt oddly satisfying, and Ruby had a nervous expression on her face as she said, "Let's go, guys".

Then Jaune remembered about Cardin, and he looked back to find him only a few feet away apparently learning his lesson, but it also felt odd, just a few hours ago he was his bully, but now he not only saved his life twice but he also avoided his gaze, but ultimately he decided that he had other things to worry about, so he shrugged and walked on ahead with Ruby and Weiss.

As they walked on ahead, he wondered what he had to do with his teammates, he knew he had to apologize to them because he hadn't been a leader at all, and during this past week he's barely talked to them. What should he say to them, especially Nora and Ren, he felt like he owed them an explanation, not just for how he had been acting this past week, but about his transcripts… They deserve to know after all they would be risking their life together whenever they fought Grimm, and it would be unfair to them if he drags them down in such a situation.

Then there's the possibility, that they would want nothing with him and just tell the headmaster in hopes that he would be kicked out of Beacon. He couldn't see them acting like that, after all, they would always try to help him after he lost a match, and Ren would always give him tips about his aura usage and Nora was nothing but cheerful. But neither did he expect Cardin to resort to blackmail…

He sighed, how they acted didn't depend on him, so he could only leave it to them. Then there was Pyrrha, who he pushed away due to his stupid pride when she was only trying to help him and she didn't even push him away after learning his secret. She accepted for who he was, but he was too stupid to see it... He also owed her an apology, he didn't deserve her as a partner.

Finally, they could see the rest of the class in the clearing just ahead, and also a bullhead ready to go, and by the looks of it half the class had already left, leaving teams RWBY, CRDL, and his team, but Pyrrha was nowhere in sight. He was immediately worried, so he immediately sprinted towards Ren and Nora and asked them, "Where's Pyrrha?".

Ren had his usual seemingly stern expression on his face as he answered, "She's already left, she didn't feel well so she left first". He sighed in relief and said, "That's a relief", but suddenly he sneezed, and he looked towards Nora who still had a smidge of sap on her lips, something he was allergic too and suffered it dearly when he was collecting sap for Cardin earlier, and said quietly as he neared her, "Hey, Nora you should wipe the sap out of your mouth before Ms. Goodwitch sees you".

She quickly wiped her mouth with her hand sucked on the sap and said, "It's so good!".

Then he glanced around and noticed that they didn't have any jars of sap and he instantly had a sneaking suspicion on who was responsible, he asked Ren, "Did Nora drink all the sap?"

Ren sighed and responded, "Yes, I couldn't stop her, she was too hyped on the first jar".

He chuckled at that, Ren had a slight smile on his face and finally after a moment of silence, he said while looking at the floor, "I'm sorry guys, I haven't been a good lead-", but was interrupted as Nora punched him on the shoulder and fell to the ground and said, "Don't worry Jaune-Jaune, it isn't a big deal, we know you'll become a great leader".

He felt relieved that they would accept his mistake so easily, but then he would have to tell them about his transcripts later, but seeing their response right now, he felt that it was the right choice. But it also didn't feel right to push the issue aside, so he stood up and said determined, "Guys, it's not okay", they seemed a bit down and worried at that but he soon followed with, "I promise I'll try to become the best leader I possibly can", they had relieved expressions on their faces as he finished.

Ren tapped his shoulder and said with a small smile, "I'll make sure you hold on to that promise".

Then Nora came up to him with a huge smile on her face and said as she crushed him in a hug, "You'll be the best fearless leader ever!", He could barely breathe as she excitedly moved him around like a rag doll.

Finally, Ren intervened and said, "Nora, let him go, if you continue we won't have a leader for much longer". Nora then dropped him and he started coughing due to the lack of air, and she chuckled.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Corrected a few mistakes from the first chapter, it should be easier to read now. I didn't expect so many follows and favorites, thanks a lot.**

* * *

As he finished coughing, he heard say, "Students, due to the Grimm attacks on several of the teams, we will suspend this activity and head back towards Beacon. Also, you won't have to worry about the jars of sap, due to the circumstances you won't lose grades if you fail to deliver them. Now proceed to board the bullhead in an orderly manner."

He could feel the relief of the class as they headed towards the bullhead, especially since none of the teams had jars of sap, apparently gathering jars of sap that attracted Grimm was quite difficult in a forest infested with Grimm. Then he started doubting the staff of Beacon, surely they wouldn't be so dumb, so their purpose was never the jars of sap, it was for students fighting Grimm.

He stopped thinking when he sat in the window seat with Nora and Ren next to her, and he heard Yang's voice as team RWBY took the seats that were facing his team, "Vomit-Boy came back!"

He had to stop himself from groaning at that nickname and said with a mutter, "Good to see you too Yang." When would she drop the nickname?

She laughed and said, "Yeah, it's not been the same without you", he could hear Weiss snort at that and Nora nudged him as if reassuring him of what Yang was saying, and threw a smile his way, he could only smile back at her.

After a moment of silence, Yang said: "We heard, you unlocked your semblance and killed an Ursa Minor."

He could feel all the people in the bullhead stare at him, and he also saw Ruby facepalm, Weiss sigh and Blake quietly shaking her head at Yang, and he could only think, 'Subtlety thy name is not Yang'.

He could feel himself moving, but it was not because of the bullhead taking off, but because of Nora shaking him and asking, "That's AWESOME, fearless leader! What's your semblance? Can you shoot a laser beam out of your eyes!? Can you fly!? Create a storm by breathing!? Make lightning from your fingertips!?

Nora was just getting, more and more off the rails, and he knew he had to stop it know, because he the shaking was getting to his stomach and it would make his nickname stick even more than it does now, so he said rapidly, "It's like Blake's!".

That got her to stop but only for a full second and she continued shaking him and talking, "So you make something take your place? Make something attack for you!? Make clones of yourself!?"

He quickly interjects and says, "That!" He had to stop her, he knew how much Nora could talk once she got excited, it wouldn't end and get more and more ridiculous.

Finally, Nora stopped and he took the moment to explain, but as he looked around, he could see Yang had an amused expression and surprisingly did Ren, Ruby avoided his eyes and Weiss was looking at them with a cold expression, and Blake had, and he was just guessing, a curious expression.

Finally, Nora said with an exasperated expression and a tone that said '_get on with it'_, "Come on, explain!"

He sighed and said, "Well, the biggest difference is that they last much longer, but also they take much more aura".

Yang was going to ask something, but Jaune made a pointed look towards team CRDL, and she got the message, he didn't want them to know about his semblance. She looked a bit disgruntled so he said, "You could ask Ruby when we reach Beacon."

After another moment of awkward silence, he knew it was because they were wanting to ask about his semblance so he asked them to change topics, "Why, do you think they brought as us here to fight Grimm?"

Both team RWBY, Nora and Ren, seem to blank at that, until Weiss asked, "Arc, what are you talking about? They brought us here to bring sap."

He hesitated a bit if they didn't see it maybe he was wrong, but he could only continue, "I mean about the fact, that they brought us to a Grimm infested forest to extract a sap that attracts Grimm."

Everyone seem to go in deep thought for a moment, before Ren spoke up, "You are right, they definitely brought us here to fight Grimm, or at least Ursa's because this task would have taken either Ms. Goodwitch or Prof-Doctor Oobleck a few minutes to complete instead of the two hours they assigned."

Then they looked at him as if he grew a second head and he could only say with indignation "Guys, don't look at me like that, I can be smart too!"

They chuckled a bit and Ruby said, "it's only a bit unexpected, it's like Weiss being _nice, _we know she can be nice, we just don't expect it".

Weiss complained saying, "Hey!" and he pouted a bit, but both went ignored by Ruby who continued his question, "So why would they want us to fight Grimm while saying that the objective is something else?"

Blake answered calmly, "They wanted us to get experience, by completing an objective, as if it was a real mission".

He quickly saw the problem in that statement, "But then why wouldn't we receive a failing grade in this assignment when we failed to get the jars of sap?"

There was a moment of silence where everyone failed to respond until Yang said, "Maybe they didn't expect us to complete it?"

Weiss then said annoyed, "What's the purpose of an objective if it isn't to complete it?"

There was silence again and he thought about the 'mission', and something clicked, and he said, "It's because there is something more important than the mission."

Ruby and Nora seemed to get it and said, Ruby, said excitedly with her arms in the air, "To help each other!"

Nora then said in a heroic pose her right foot to the seat and a hand on her hip and the other pointing towards the sun, "To protect those who cannot protect themselves!"

He was quite used to her antics so he only nodded and said, "Well I'd say is to build teamwork within teams and outside of them."

Then he heard a voice to his right, "Well done, teams RWBY and JNPR, you are correct."

Everyone turned to look at, and she had a voice of approval, "I said, you won't lose grades if you fail to deliver them, it's because that wasn't what we were grading, but instead teamwork and the basis of being a Hunter, to help those in need. But there is also a bonus, that is if you can see what the true purpose of this trip was and due to that, both teams will get perfect scores on this assignment."

There were cheers coming from, Ruby, Yang, and Nora, meanwhile Ren, Weiss, and Blake had small smiles, while himself had a big smile at unexpected score, but he crossed a look with Ms. Goodwitch, and instantly felt uncomfortable, because he had grown used to her look of distaste towards him, and now she was smiling at him, so he could only look away, at team RWBY and his teammates.

He only wanted to erase that smiling face from his mind.

Finally as the cheers ended, he could look outside the bullhead's window, first of all, he noticed, he didn't feel airsick anymore, though he had only been inside bullhead's and airships, twice and both times he had been a nervous wreck, once to Vale and second to Beacon, both times he could only think of failing and going back home.

But now he felt calm, and his stomach stopped doing backflips, so apparently, it only happens when he's stressed.

Time passed, and a few minutes later they could see Beacon, it's an enormous tower and the sundown occurring behind it. He then looked at the buildings where classes were conducted and thought that if he used his semblance in classes, maybe he could do better in them.

But he doubted that the teachers would appreciate if they suddenly had more students, so he should ask if he could use his semblance in class.

Then he looked towards the top of the tower, where the green light was illuminating the whole of Beacon as it approached night time, and he dazed off, and his promise to his teammates came to mind and a question followed right after.

'_Should I leave Beacon?'_

* * *

Finally, they reached Beacon and they were leaving the bullhead and heading towards the dorms, he heard Yang say, "Hey Vomit-Boy, I was getting worried you would stay true to your name when you started looking out the window."

He sighed as they started to walk together and said, "You don't have to worry now, I think I only get airsick when I'm nervous, think of it as an opportunity to drop the nickname."

She snickered and said, "No way, that's what you get for vomiting on my shoes."

He wasn't expecting anything else so he could only dramatically sigh and say, "A lifetime of abuse over a bit of vomit in your shoes, seems fair to me."

She seemed to sneer at that and replied, "It's very fair! You don't mess with a girl's new shoes!"

He could only laugh and submit himself to be 'Vomit-Voy'.

There was a moment of silence after that, and it didn't last long thanks to Yang, "Hey, you could show us your semblance now."

He thought for a bit, maybe he could send them to the library to test the knowledge transfer, he already knew it would have a limit, as everything did, but he wanted to see how effective it would be to learn, and as a bonus he could test how long they last, well not exactly but he could have an estimate.

Then he replied, "Sure, but why are so curious about my semblance?"

She replied simply, "It's fun seeing other people's Semblances." He couldn't argue with that, seeing superpowers, it's bound to be entertaining.

They were in a hallway almost reaching the dorms and there were no people in sight, apparently, CRDL took another route. He glanced at Yang, and asked himself if she did it on purpose, he knew she was more than met the eye so maybe she did, so he tested the waters saying, "I think they give us, blondes, too little credit."

She smirked at that and replied, "Yeah we can be smart when we want to be". Yep, definitely on purpose.

He turned around to look at the rest of team RWBY, and his teammates that were trailing behind them, and said, "Hey guys, wanna see my semblance?"

Nora immediately shouted, "Of course!" And moved a few feet in front of him, Ruby also moved excitedly and was in an instant beside Nora, despite already seeing it before. The rest joined them, standing beside Nora or Ruby.

Then he closed his eyes and concentrated to do the same as he did before, trying to make sure his aura 'spilled over' like before, but after a few moments nothing was happening, then he opened his eyes and they were throwing him confused looks, he was instantly embarrassed and to make it worse, Yang _talked, _"What's wrong Jaune, can't perform with a crowd?"

He was immediately even more embarrassed, wishing he had a hole where to hide, after a moment he asked, "Any tips to how to activate my semblance?"

They all immediately chuckled at that, some more loudly than others…

After a moment, when they stopped laughing, Ren came to the rescue and said, "Thinking of the emotion and feeling when you unlocked it."

Blake also chipped in and said, "Also thinking about the situation you were can help".

He said a quick 'thanks', and closed his eyes once again, he thought of the moment when he was face to face with the Ursa, about to be struck by its paw, but he didn't feel fear, he felt determined to be _better_, to be someone…

He didn't know what exact emotion, he could only say he felt '_defiant_', not exactly angry nor sad, but ambitious, maybe even happy…

Slowly as he felt his emotions, he could feel the familiar flow of aura, inside his body and he 'pulled' on it, making his aura overflow, but also taking a massive amount of aura from his body.

He opened his eyes, and he could see his clone in front of him. He snapped out of his daze when Yang said, "Okay, that's kind of creepy."

Nora quickly said, "What!? That was so cool, it's like another Jaune, came from inside him." With a description like that he had to admit it looked kind of creepy.

But he wanted to test a few things so he told his clone, "Can you make clones?"

His clone replied, "I'm not sure, I'll try." He could see his clone close its eyes, and then his white-colored aura appeared on this body, and another clone appeared from its aura, and 'separated' from him.

He said out loud, "Okay, yeah, kind of creepy."

He moved to see his friends, but they were stunned looking at his clones, and his clones started talking to each other, "Let's try to make… eight of us", "Yeah, sounds good", and they started making more of themselves.

He started moving towards his friends and moved his hands in front of their faces, though Ren and Blake had already snapped out of it. He then said, "Guys, what are you so surprised about?"

Ruby said with awe on her voice, "Your clones can make more clones!"

He replied blandly, "Yeah, so what?"

Nora replied this time, "Silly, couldn't you make, you know, infinite clones?"

Ren answered, "No, Jaune said they took a lot of aura, but I'm surprised they can each use your semblance."

Jaune then replied, "That's not exactly right, my clones _divide_ my aura, it divides it in the number of clones I make, but I think that's because I just unlocked it and I don't have any control over it."

Then Yang said, "So you _can_ make infinite clones?"

This time Weiss replied, "I doubt it, they would need a bare minimum to exist"

Then Blake asked, "So they are capable of independent thought?"

He nodded and said, "Yeah, I don't have any control over them." Just then he heard something heavy stumble on the floor.

He turned around and noticed they were now eight of them, and one of them had a bruise on its face as it sat on the floor and groaned, and the rest of them had a relieved look on their faces.

He knew exactly what they were testing, but the rest of his friends had no idea and were looking at them like they were idiots, finally, Yang asked, "Does making more clones make them stupider?"

That got a chorus of "No" from his clones, and one of them stepped out and said, "We are testing when pain reflects on the others".

Ren had a concerned expression on his face, "You can feel pain when people hit your clone?"

He replied as he watched his clone heal his bruise with aura, "Not every time."

Ruby then replied with a nervous expression, "He did feel pain when his clone was destroyed by the Alpha Beowolf."

He flinched at Ren's gaze but he signaled to his clone that was being absorbed, and his aura reacted and thinking to moments before, he knew he had his clone's memories. He then replied hurriedly, "Only when they are destroyed."

Ren then held back his scary stare.

Yang then asked with a curious expression, "So you can absorb your clones?"

Jaune replied, "Yeah, I guess it's because in the end they are made of my aura, so if I absorb them back I don't lose much of my aura if I make my clones."

Yang replied with a thoughtful expression, "Okay, that's useful."

Blake then asked, "Am I the only one that noticed that his clone had a _bruise_?".

Everyone paused at that realizing the implications, after a moment of silence Ruby asked nervously, "So they can bleed?"

He considered it for a moment and said, "I think they can if they don't use their aura to protect themselves, and if they lose all their aura to protect themselves they will vanish so I doubt you will see them bleed."

They all seem relieved at that logic, and he was too, he didn't want to see himself bleed out any time soon.

There was a moment of silence before one of his clones said, "Hey original, we came up with a plan, absorb three of us and distribute ten perce- wait, why am I explaining? You'll just know when you absorb us."

As he was facing his friend's confused faces and he had to admit he was starting to enjoy seeing them like that, and before they asked the obvious question, he said, "I also get their memories when they vanish."

Then he turned and started absorbing a clone, and he understood what they wanted to do, they wanted some clones head towards the library, and some to take his guitar and practice a new song to test if he also got their muscle memory, while he talked to his teammates.

He could hear Yang say with a perplexed tone, "He can _literally_ talk to himself."

He rolled his eyes as he took out his scroll to monitor his aura and started distributing his aura so each of his clones held ten percent of his aura.

After a few minutes he was done, but he had faint feeling of tiredness, and he knew it was because of aura exhaustion as he was in the red but his clones didn't seem to mind and they started heading towards the library, the feeling of exhaustion also came with losing the strength of his aura, but he wasn't sure when it started.

Then he looked nervously at his friends and asked, "So what do you guys think about my semblance?"

Nora yelled excitedly, "It's amazing! You can make your army of Jaune's!" A very Nora way to put it, but he liked that.

It was followed by Ruby who talked so fast he could only guess it was positive and Yang, who said, "It's weird, but an awesome kind of weird."

Ren said afterward, "Yes, it's a quite useful ability to have."

Blake gave a small smile towards him and Weiss, she just looked away, but he was thinking that was the best answer he will get from her. That look also reminded him that he didn't speak about his aura losing concentration, but now he didn't want to say it as it was a long time he felt… proud.

But he debated whether to tell them of its biggest weakness but in the end, he decided against it, at most he would tell his team and first because he knew they had already unlocked their semblances and they hadn't talked much about them. So maybe it was a custom to not tell people much about one's semblance?

Now that the show was over they started chatting and heading towards the dorms. Each team headed towards their room making plans for dinner an hour later.

As he entered the room, he expected to see Pyrrha as she told Ren she was sick, but she was nowhere in sight, even the lights on the bathroom were off so chances are she was on the infirmary. He needed to apologize to her, and afterward, he needed to tell Nora and Ren about his transcripts.

But first he needed to make two clones and he would be on his way, so he started by digging deep in his and Ren's closet, which was basically empty so he could keep his guitar there, he and Ren didn't bring many things to Beacon as did the rest of his team, a deep contrast to team RWBY, who barely had space for their beds.

When he was on forever fall after fighting the Ursa, he realized with his clone…that's weird, in the end, the clone is himself…

He realized that he also cloned whatever he had on him on the moment, he realized it thanks to the clone who threw his 'cloned' sword and also reinforced by the fact that his clones aren't naked, he couldn't be more glad about that last part, if not he would not be able to use it at all without dying of embarrassment.

He took the guitar case out of the closet, as Ren looked at his scroll on our desk, and Nora sat at the edge of her bed looking at him and as they crossed eyes, she asked, "What are you doing Jauney-Jaune?"

Apparently, his other nickname was evolving, but he didn't mind, and answered as he took the guitar from the case, "Well, was going to test if my clones also transferred muscle memory."

She had a doubtful expression as she laid on her bed, "But isn't muscle memory, you know" she signaled her bicep, "In the muscles or nerves or something?"

Jaune was doubting himself for a second, but Ren lifted his head from his scroll and said, "Actually, muscle memory doesn't have to do with muscles but with the brain so if he can receive memories it could transfer muscle memory."

He released a breath of relief he didn't know he was holding, threw the guitar case towards his bed and proceeded to use his semblance again.

The feeling of exhaustion came back strong and also attacked him together with the losing strength of his aura and he needed to lean on something so he had to press his hand on the nearby wall and stared at the floor trying to steady himself.

He heard Nora's concerned voice as she approached him and had a hand on his shoulder, "You okay?"

He smiled touched for her concern and also trying to convey that he was okay and answered, "Yeah, just feeling aura exhaustion".

He looked up and he looked at his clone who held a guitar in his hand, he also had an expression of concern, and he felt weird seeing it, not sure why though.

He signaled to the door with his thumb and the clone nodded, and he knew it would use his semblance once it found a place to practice and left the room. He saw that he still had a lot of time before dinner so he would rest a few minutes before heading towards the infirmary.

He walked towards his bed and sat with his back on the headboard, closed eyes and tried to meditate to quell his feeling of exhaustion, but slowly the feeling of sleepiness was growing stronger, he was about to give in when he was about to fall to the side and was startled to standing up.

He looked around and he could hear the sound of water running and Ren was still on his desk, he didn't feel as exhausted as before so he took out his scroll and was relieved that he didn't sleep for long, just a few minutes.

Jaune then started to stretch to take out the sleepiness out and said to Ren, "Hey Ren, I'm going to the infirmary."

If he was startled he didn't show it and turned on the chair to face him, "Something wrong?"

Jaune replied seriously, "I _need_ to apologize to Pyrrha",

Ren gave him a look and pointed look and sighed, "You should shower first."

He tried sniffing his hoodie but he didn't smell anything and he asked Ren, "Do I smell?"

Ren just gave him a look that said, '_Yeah, you really do',_ and he could only sigh and say "Fine" begrudgingly.

* * *

He had to admit, it was weird being a clone.

If he hadn't known from the beginning he was sure he wouldn't believe it. After all, everything felt the same, the weight of his weapon, the armor tight against his chest, that slight itch on his nose, the sound of flipping paper around him.

But he knew, he was living with an expiration date.

Okay, maybe he was being dramatic, it's not like he was dying, he would just disappear in motes of light… That did sound like he was dying though, maybe not in real life but in a game he could see it going that way.

He was having a really hard time concentrating, his mind kept drifting and this only reinforced the idea that everything was the same, just because he was a clone who was created with the purpose to study did it mean he was going to.

In fact, the more clones made it harder for him to study, after all, there would be people to pick up after the slack… but he couldn't be the only clone thinking that…

He had the urge to groan, he was so unreliable.

Suddenly he felt someone's stare on him, but he wasn't concerned, many people had stared at them on their way to the library, the only exception was the librarian, she only glanced up from her book and went back to reading, not caring a single bit.

But the stares were getting annoying, they had to have seen weirder semblances. He could only sigh and try to ignore them.

If he had to say one thing that felt different, it was his aura, it felt _fainter, _he didn't feel the surge of strength it had before. But it didn't bother him that much, he's only had his aura unlocked for a month and it was still a very strange thing for him.

Suddenly one of the four clones around him said, "Hey guys, the ones playing guitar disappeared."

There was a moment of silence before he spoke somberly, "Our time has come, but don't worry my brothers, death will not be the end."

After a moment of silence, laughter rang around him, and his clone(2) that was at his left nudged his shoulder and said, "Don't be so dramatic."

He smiled back and retorted, "If I wanted to be dramatic I would have added" And he once again spoke in a somber voice, "After all, we will be one after death."

The clone(3) in front said with a laugh, "That is so dorky." If he said it then he couldn't imagine how it would rank in the dork scale, but it _was_ technically true, as they would return as memories.

Then the clone on his right said, "Okay, okay, let's not mess around we don't have much time, I'll go return the books, you guys clean to make sure we leave everything in order."

He gave him books of Grimm Studies, as did the rest of the clones and weirdly enough all said "Thank you" in reflex, as the clone left the study room with the books. He glanced around and the room and there wasn't much to do, he only stood up and put the chair in its place, as did the other clones.

He was thanking himself, it felt…weird. He felt as if he was hanging out with strangers rather than himself. He _knew_ that the one in front of him was a perfect copy of himself, but it didn't feel like it. What made it most difficult was the voice, their voices were like the one he would hear out of a recording of his voice, if that made sense.

Then a strange voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "We don't have much time left here." It was the fourth clone that hadn't talked until now.

Then the clone(2) at his left spoke, "Don't be sad, it's not like we are dying or anything."

The clone(4) shook his head and said with a troubled tone, "I wasn't talking about disappearing…"

There was a moment of silence before he continued with sorrow in his voice, "I was talking about Beacon."

There was a somber mood now in the study room, there was only silence until he spoke contemplating, "To be the best leader we possibly can…"

That sentence was completed by the clone(2) on his left, "Is to not be a leader at all."

His clone(3) in front him spoke as if trying to reassure us, "It will be for the best, we'd just be dragging them down, and that would be unacceptable in a mission where not only innocent people's lives are at stake, but also our teammates."

The depressed clone(4) spoke again, "But will they be okay? You remember Nora's and Ren's expressions."

Their expression of sadness and fear that came over them for a split second, before he reassured them to be a better leader. He couldn't forget that, and he knew his clones didn't either.

His clone(4) continued, "We will be hurting them by leaving…"

He countered with an even voice "You remember Cardin today, right? This isn't something we can half-ass, people's lives are at stake here."

His clone(4) was about to continue but the clone(2) on his left interjected, "Better hurt than dead."

His clone(3) agreed, "Yeah, is that the type of person we want to be? Didn't we want to be a hero? Would a hero let people die so he could pursue his selfish dreams?"

He knew the answer to the first two questions, but the third... He wasn't so sure.

His clone(2) also said nonchalantly, "Besides we wouldn't be giving up in our dreams because what we want isn't a shiny license, so we shouldn't worry about Beacon, they are other paths we could take."

He then said interested, "Like being a town guard or enter the military?"

His clone(2) nodded, "Yeah, but I doubt we'll survive the military service, so learning with the town guards seems like a more realistic choice and then going out to Remnant to gain experience."

His clone(4) said hesitantly, "S-So you want to go home?"

He didn't, not at all, he hadn't realized it before but now after this month in Beacon, he realized...He simply didn't belong there.

Each one of them shook their heads and he said, "I think that's the one place we are sure we won't be going… After all, if we returned, things would go back as they were before…"

His clone(4) refuted it, "But, Dad and Mom could train us, and some of our sisters if they aren't on missions."

His other clone(2) spoke as if it was the most obvious thing, "We simply don't belong there."

The other clone(4) spoke weakly, "B-but they love us...And we love them."

He spoke a bit harshly as he looked at his clone(4), "But that wasn't enough, if not we wouldn't have left. We have to admit it."

He sighed and spoke softly trying to calm down, "We are greedy, if not that love should have been enough, but it wasn't. We are also liars and fakes, cheating our way through Beacon, putting people at risk for a selfish dream."

His clone(2) continued it, "After all, this world doesn't lack heroes, and us becoming one most likely won't change anything."

He paused for a second before continuing, "And if it came to that, then the world was already on a path to hell and I highly doubt there was anything we could do, to change that."

His clone(3) finished the thought, "We want to become a Hunstman for no one but ourselves."

There was a moment of silent sighs, and glancing at each other, before his clone(4) spoke softly, "I'm going to miss them."

His clone(2) spoke softly, "The way Ren was always keeping an eye on us and would listen to us no matter how much we complained about classes."

_An image came to him of Ren calmly listening to him talk, only to nod at times and smile at others. _

His clone(3) spoke warmly, "The way Nora would always make every moment interesting."

_An image of Nora excitedly talking about... something and despite how he was having trouble following her line of thought, he could feel his mouth moving to form a smile._

HIs clone(4) spoke with an apologetic tone and with a hand covering his face as '_water'_ dripped from it, "T-the way Pyrrha would always try… and fail to make us listen to the class."

_An image of Pyrrha nudging his shoulder with an apologetic smile that spoke she was sorry for waking him up. _

A voice filled with yearning came from behind him, as he turned around he saw it was the clone that went to return the books, "How nothing mattered when we were with them."

_An image of Nora laughing her lungs out, Pyrrha trying to contain her laughter, and Ren who had a twitching smile as he tried to contain his laughter. _

Slowly they turned to motes of light except for him who lasted a bit longer, only to say with a tone full of sadness:

"I don't want to leave"

* * *

The cold wind was freezing him.

That was the only guess he had before he saw the memories of his clones, that was the only explanation he had for why he couldn't move.

He could only think:

"_For them, I have to move forward"_

With that, he made the hardest step in his life. Even harder than leaving his home.

Only to be knocked down by a red blur.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I think it would be pretty boring if the clones were just a bunch of yes-men, that just did what they were told.

So the reason I haven't updated in a while is that I bought the ps4, so…

Anyway, I'm back!

* * *

Pyrrha didn't know what to do.

She failed. It had been so long since she felt so devastated, she tried to help but it made things worse and had basically told her partner's deepest secret to the worst possible person in Beacon.

What was more awful was that person was even worse than she could image, he had resorted to blackmailing her partner. She had certainly heard of cases like that, it had happened once at Sanctum and the responsible got expelled immediately, but she didn't expect to happen to her partner.

All that happened because of her.

Suddenly she felt the cold wind brush against her skin, she couldn't help but shiver but she didn't want to go to the dorms, Jaune was definitely there, and she didn't know how to face him.

Her legs were dangling off the side of the cliff but she didn't feel scared, not of the heights nor the monsters below. At this moment she felt it was a better alternative than going to the dorms.

She remembered only a month ago she had heard a girly scream journey across the Emerald Forest, and when she looked through the scope of Miló she saw him. She didn't hesitate for a single second in throwing her weapon like a javelin to make sure he was her partner.

At the moment she knew it was a stupid choice, throwing her weapon in a forest infested with Grimm leaving her only with her shield, Akoúo̱. But when she reached her destination after defeating a pack of Beowolfs with only her shield she thought it was worth it.

A bashful smile was across his face as he dangled twenty feet of the ground and she asked a bit carefully, "_Jaune_?"

He turned to face her and he had a pout on his face and she resisted the urge to smile.

Finally, she said a bit teasingly, "Do you… Have any spots left on your team?"

The way he crossed his arms a bit offended was something she didn't know she wanted to see, it indicated that her intuition was right, he didn't care for who she was. If it was somebody else they would have been overjoyed, but he wasn't.

What he said next only reinforced that idea, "Ha. Ha. Very Funny" It wasn't anything special, but for her, it was what she wanted most. He didn't know her, he was her chance to start fresh, and when that smile bloomed on his face she couldn't keep her own to appear on her face.

At that moment a thought appeared on her mind, '_When was the last time my smile had emotion behind it_?'

She didn't know exactly how long but she could only answer it with:

'_Far too long_.'

But she had ruined it because she was too arrogant. She thought too much of herself and assumed she could help him. Instead, she only pushed him further away from her, possibly ruining her chances to have a normal friend.

She had thought of helping him since the first time she saw him in combat class, it was obvious he needed help, but she was scared it would be like when her sponsors would organize an event where the winner would be trained by her.

The people that usually won didn't care much about the training instead, they focused their eyes on her and out of frustration she did her usual training regime, much to the dismay of her sponsors, and whoever got chosen would usually end up giving up, throwing up or passing out.

The irony of her present situation didn't elude her, back then everyone would rush towards whatever contest to be able to train with her with a full afternoon despite the fact that she didn't want to train with anyone, and now the one she wanted to train with someone, he didn't want to.

She still remembered how much courage she needed to offer her help, it felt suffocating she barely even manage to squeeze the words out, but that only lead to her being rejected.

She had to admit it, she didn't care all that much about Jaune's transcripts, in fact, she wasn't all that surprised, he hadn't won a single match and wasn't all that great in the school subjects except Grimm Studies, so she should have realized it sooner.

So maybe… She had cared more about her wounded pride because he didn't accept her help and that wound only got worse when he spent time with a Cardin Winchester, someone she had argued strongly in History class and deeply disliked.

So she didn't ask herself, just why would Jaune spend time with the bully, she didn't really think about it she just thought it was to spite her, but she should have known better, Jaune would have never spent time with Cardin just to spite her. She should have given it more thought, it was so simple… she should have seen it.

Now thinking back she couldn't help but thinking maybe her semblance had influenced her or was it her soul? Because she and Jaune were exact opposites.

She was a trained warrior that wanted a more normal life and he was a normal boy that wanted to be a great warrior. She had been invited personally by the headmaster, he used faked transcripts. She had won every single match in combat class and he had lost every single one.

She felt she could go on forever…So the question was:

Did she have anything in common with Jaune?

She could feel the silence filling her mind, the rough soil beneath her hands, the chilling wind brushing silently against her skin, an occasional howl that rang beneath her feet and as time passed an answer didn't come to mind.

She slowly leaned back and watched the night sky and as she watched the fractured moon that felt as if it represented her, so she asked herself:

'_Was she destined to be treated as above as everyone else?'_

She felt she didn't belong there, every second there was suffocating, every pretense was a knife to her heart, every time she was forced to do an event was as if a chain was tightening around her limbs and eventually, she would no longer have her freedom.

The first three weeks on Beacon were a breath of fresh air, she could laugh freely, she didn't have to worry about a pair of eyes watching, writing and recording every action and every word she said. She could feel the tight chains of the so-called 'Destiny' loosening.

She felt as every day was a dream.

But every dream came to an end.

_An image came to her mind of Jaune escaping from her gaze and looking over to the ground as he said, "You're wrong. I-I don't belong here."_

Something about that memory struck her, she had the feeling it wasn't the first time he had said or felt like that. Suddenly she remembered what he had said about his family.

_She could see his frustration rolling off him in waves as he shouted, "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough."_

She felt she had something with common with him, something so basic in everybody else but inadequacies they have both felt.

They didn't belong with their families.

She didn't know why, but she felt happy, she finally had something in common with her partner, even if it was something that hurt her the most.

She could guess how his family was, not only from the fact they were complete opposites, where her family was completely average. His was prestigious and with a long history, and from the fact that he said, _"I was never good enough"_ was enough to say what his family was like.

She knew they felt the same despite coming from completely opposite places and knowing that, she felt that he had to talk to him, she just couldn't afford to lose him, so she had to make things right.

With that resolve, she took one last look towards the fractured moon and felt that maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't end up like it.

Broken.

* * *

As she made her way towards the dorms, she saw his signature blonde, slightly curly hair and was standing directly beneath the Beacon Tower. She was relieved as he was alone, so it would alleviate the awkwardness of calling him out to talk.

She was about to walk forward and greet him, but the words were lost in her mouth she didn't know what to say and despite all of her resolve earlier, the only thing she could do was drift to a nearby tree to think what to say to him.

A few phrases drifted in her mind, '_I'm sorry for trying to help you_,' She knew that would most likely cause the opposite reaction of what she was trying to achieve because that didn't sound like an apology at all.

'_I'm sorry, I shouldn't have_…' She had nothing, it was the first time she had hurt a friend like this and she wasn't sure what to say or do.

She then realized that Jaune wasn't moving at all, and he had a glazed expression on his face as he watched the Beacon Tower. He appeared frozen as he watched the monumental tower. Slowly a foreboding feeling appeared in the back of her mind as she watched him.

She didn't know why, but whispers of the past came to her mind.

'_It doesn't matter we have already decided what we are going to do' Jaune's clone said in a matter of fact tone._

_'Pyrrha I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not that depressed" Jaune said as he looked over the edge, and after a moment of silence he continued, "I can always be a farmer or something."_

Thinking of that she could only arrive at a single conclusión: He would leave Beacon.

Why wouldn't he? After this horrible week, it would be a wonder if he stayed. Besides he already felt out of place before, now after _this_?

So the question was: Why would he stay?

The moment she thought that it wouldn't leave her mind, before this she had thought the worse it would happen would be an awkward silence between them as it was for the past week, and even that was unbearable...

If he was to leave she just didn't know what to do, she would have ruined everything by trying to help.

So when she saw his face take an ice-cold expression and he took a single step forward towards the Beacon Tower, her body moved on her own and rushed frantically to stop him, and before she knew what had happened, a voice came from beneath her, "Pyrrha?"

She looked down and she could see his cerulean eyes looking at her in confusion and it was then that she realized that she had him pressed against the ground and she could slowly feel her face burn in embarrassment and it was only made worse when a bystander said, "Get a room!"

Slowly her face lifted from her eyes and she could see a lot of the students around them looking at her in confusion and her body moved before her mind as she holstered Jaune on her shoulder and ran and she could faintly hear the same voice say in wonder, "Wow, I didn't think she would _actually_ get a room."

She wanted to scream that it wasn't what it looked like, but too embarrassed to face the crowd she instead put in more effort in running leaving the bystanders far behind and as she did, she then realized her captive flailing and shouting, "Pyrrhaaaa! Where are you taking me!?"

Her captive had a point her mind hadn't considered but thankfully her body did, as it brought her to the cliff where initiation was held, just where she was just minutes ago. As she approached she could feel her captive flail more and she then realized why, as he screamed, "Wait, Pyrrha! Don't throw me off the cliff yet! Let me talk first!"

She felt herself almost trip against an invisible rock as he heard his screams, just why would he think he would throw him off the cliff!

She was just running headfirst into the cliffside while holding him and not saying anything…

Okay, maybe she could see why he was confused.

And what did he mean by 'Don't throw me off the cliff _yet_' did that mean he would be okay if she did it afterward he talked? Somehow that relieved her.

When she reached the cliff she let him down and she had to admit she was a bit embarrassed as he let out a sigh of relief.

Before she could say anything Jaune said in an apologetic tone looking deep in her eyes, "I'm sorry Pyrrha, I shouldn't have been angry at you for trying to help me."

She was shocked, she didn't expect him to apologize, if she had received it yesterday she would have said that everything was forgiven, but now she knew that everything was her fault so she could only respond indignantly, "What are you talking about, it's all my fault! If I hadn't pushed you, you wouldn't have been blackmailed."

He appeared to be shocked and she could guess it was because she couldn't have known that and after a moment of silence, an expression of realization came to Jaune's face and he said in a matter-of-fact tone, "You were there with Ruby and Weiss."

She didn't expect him to realize that so quickly and she remembered that Jaune could be awfully sharp at times. She sighed as she said, "Yes, we saw how you saved Cardin and took down the Ursa."

As she said that she ended up drifting her eyes to the ground, and she could see Jaune's feet move closer to hers and then a soft voice reached her ears, "Pyrrha… It's all my fault, I shouldn't have ever rejected your help, you were just looking out for me, It's all you've done since I've entered Beacon."

His feet took another step and said in a critical tone, "I was too proud, I don't know why I expected everything to go my way the moment I stepped into Beacon. Everyone here put countless hours of hard work to get here. I just cheated my way through."

She slowly lifted her head and saw his ocean blue eyes and unlike most of the time where they held innocence, now they held hate, not towards her, but towards himself.

She only saw it for a moment before he shifted his eyes elsewhere. She couldn't bear hearing him say that, so she said trying to encourage him, "But Jaune, you have already proven yourself today, where other students ran from an Ursa and left a teammate behind, you stood your ground and defeated it."

He faced her once again when she said that and he had an affectionate tone as he replied, "You are an amazing partner Pyrrha."

She knew he was deflecting the topic, but after hearing him say that she was a bit embarrassed, she had heard compliments almost the entirety of the last three years and she was almost numbed to it, but when he complimented her, it brought a new feeling, she could say it was because they were friends and she could say they held a meaningful relationship unlike all the people that complimented her.

After a moment of silence, he continued interrupting her from her daze, "Do you know why I cheated my way to Beacon?"

She remembered her talk with Jaune clearly so she said, "You wanted to become a great warrior like your father and grandfather."

Jaune let out a sigh and said bitterly, "I was always average, just a face among many, a dime in a dozen, I wanted to be… I-I don't know… _someone_, I guess. When people in my town saw my dad, mom or my sisters they would be instantly recognized but not me, they would sometimes forget I was a part of the same family. In the end, my family became overprotective of me because I wasn't the same as them. I wasn't special."

She had a conflicted feeling, she would wish she wouldn't be recognized just like he was, but it was not the same circumstance, she couldn't really understand what he felt, but she had seen the same with her friends, they left her behind when she became famous, they became intimidated because of her fame.

But what she could relate was that he felt isolated from his family, the distinction with her was, that she felt isolated from the expectation they had of her, and he felt the same because of the lack of expectation from his family. Once again, opposites.

She saw his aura come to life and another Jaune came from him and 'step out' from his body and he said in an almost resentful voice as he looked as his clone, "That is what my semblance represents. That I will never be special. Because I will never be unique to the world. Before I unlocked my semblance I could at least say,"

In an almost helpless voice, he continued, "Well at least there's no one in the world, exactly like me. But now..." He ended with a sigh and grabbing his clone by the shoulder and a moment later he was gone in a brief movement of light going into Jaune.

She didn't know what to say, she could only feel his heartbreak at his semblance and after a moment of silence where she could only open and close her mouth repeatedly did he continue speaking in a helpless tone, "Not even my family believed in me when I said I would go to Beacon, and why would they? I had no training."

He looked down to the ground and continued after a moment of silence, "I didn't even believe it myself, that's why I cheated…"

He looked up from the ground and looked into her eyes and said, "But when I met you, you said I could be a great leader, and that was something nobody has ever said to me. You made me feel special even if it was for a brief moment."

She didn't know exactly how she felt, she knew she felt touched, nobody had ever laid their hearts bare before her in such a way, and this was what she came to Beacon for, not for training but to create meaningful relationships.

But once again she could see how different they were, she liked him because he treated her like he did anyone, but he liked her because she had treated him differently. But, In the end, what mattered to her was that they special to each other.

So finally she spoke while closing the distance between them and she put her hand on his shoulder, "Being special isn't all that great."

She saw him open his mouth but only for it to close even more rapidly when he looked into her eyes, so she continued speaking in a helpless tone, "Being _special_ has taken more of my life than any other thing."

Slowly her brain managed to piece the words she wanted to say, and after feeling her eyes blur a bit did she manage to say them, "Nobody looked at me the same, It took away my friends, it distanced me from..."

She could feel her throat closing and only after something left her eyes did she notice she was crying, and after moments of sobbing did she managed to finish what she wanted to say, "my family."

She slowly felt his arms wrap around her and hold her close and she slowly did the same wrapping her arms around her back.

Slowly she could feel herself melt into his embrace and could feel her the burden on her heart ease as she managed to squeeze those words out of her, she had thought of them many times, but saying it out loud was another matter entirely.

She didn't know how long she cried in his shoulder but the warmth he brought slowly calmed her down and she finally said what was tearing at her heart at the moment, "So, please don't leave Beacon, I need you here."

She could feel his arms grow tense in her back and relax after a heavy sigh, "I will only drag you down."

She could feel herself tensing up because she knew she had to say the right words or he might leave and it couldn't be about himself or about what be wanted but about someone else because he cared too little about himself and too much about everyone else.

After a moment of silence did she managed to think of something and her tone was surprisingly strict, "That's not for you to decide, it's something for the team JNPR to decide."

She slowly backed away from the hug and he let her go and she managed to say to his eyes, "You were running away. You didn't want to be rejected so you were gonna leave."

Jaune only managed to look in her eyes a brief moment before glancing away, and he said, "You're right. I should tell Nora and Ren first and let them decide."

She could see him tense up as he looked at the dorms in the distance and she could feel it as well, this could be Jaune's last day at Beacon and suddenly she felt conflicted this would be a horrible last day for him.

He unlocked a semblance that embodied everything he didn't want to be, was being blackmailed through most of the morning, had to fight for his _life_ against an Ursa to save his blackmailer, and finally get the courage to leave to only be refuted by his partner and basically forced him to reveal his darkest secret to his other teammates.

She didn't want his possibly last day on Beacon to be like that so she slowly said, "You could wait until tomorrow to tell them."

She could see him hesitate as he looked at her with a bit hope but ultimately it faded away as he said, "I would be running away again."

She said slowly and softly, "Jaune do you really want _this day_ to be your last, to be how Nora, Ren and… me to remember you by?"

She could see his face twist in a bit of a grimace as he sighed and said, "No I don't… but I can't postpone this forever so I will definitely tell them tomorrow."

She only replied, "I know you will."

Then he turned to face her and said apologetic tone, "Thank you Pyrrha, you are always helping me and setting me straight and I don't think I've ever returned the favor… I'm sorry."

She looked at him in the eyes and said, "You've helped more than you realize, you are the one that has helped me most during this month."

She could feel a pinch of embarrassment as she said that, so she grabbed his wrist and walked as she said, "Let's get back to the dorms now."

His reply was soft and she almost didn't hear it, "Yeah, let's go back."


End file.
